Improved apparatus for amalgamating gold and silver



J. J. STORER.

' Ore Amalgamator.

Patented Nov. l, 1864.

the quicksilver at the bottom and mix the UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JACOB J. STORER, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent Nad/1,898.,

dated November 1, 1864.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Beit known that I, J. J. SToRER, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Method of Amalgamatin g Gold and Silver Orcs; and I do hereby declare that the following is a t'ull, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the a-ccompan y ing drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which* Itigure 1 is a plan ot' two troughs or sluices united, and Fig. 2 an end view oi" the same, like parts being represented by the same lettors in both figures.

'lhe nature of my invention consists, iirst, in giving the pulp,77 by any suitable mechanism, a circulating motion, so that it shall coni stantly return and pass over the same points j until exhausted oi' its gold or silver; second, in the employment of an axle or axles, furnished with rods, blades, interlaced wires, or perforated plates, so arranged as to form a spiral or a paddle wheel, and made to revolve in a suitable sluice or sluices, so as to dip into ores with it, giving the pulp at the same time a constant movement in a circuit, whereby the operation of amalgamating is perform ed much more rapidly and economically than it can be by any method known or used before; and, third, in constructing the rods, blades, wires, or perforated plates of said spiral or wheel, as well as the lining ot' the sluices, of copper or other metal not liable to be destroyed by the action ot'mercury, but capable of surface amalgamation, whereby the lioating particles of metal, coming in contact with said amalgamated surfaces, will be more rapidly amalga- Inated and less liable to be lost than would be the case if constructed of any other material.

To enable others skilled in the art to use my invention, I will now proceed more fully to describe the same.

It is obvious that there may be many equivalent ways of embodying my improvement. The drawings, however, represent whatI consider as the best, the size and proportions being varied at pleasure.

S and S/ are two semi-cylindrical troughs or sluices, formed in the block or frame A, of wood or other suitable material, being sepa rated by the partition X, which is cut awaytact with the iloating particles at both ends down to the bottom of the troughs to t'orm a free communication between them for the circulation ot' the pulp, as represented by the arrows in Fig. l. sluices I propose, as a general thing, to provide with a lining, B, of copper, tin-foil, or other metal not liable to be destroyed by the action of mercury, but capable ot' surface amalgamation, so as to arrest the iioating par ticles of gold or silver that may come in coutact with it.

O is an axle or cylinder, of wood or other suitable material, the ends d d of which turn in suitable bearin gs in the sides of the sluices v or troughs, as represented in the drawings, i t being removable rods passing through the staples j for the purpose of keeping the axle in place.

g g are rows oi' rods or blades arranged in the axle (l, close together, and so as to form spirals or a screw around it. rIhe blades or rods may be of any material not injured by the action of mercury. I prefer, however, to make them of copper or other metal not destroyed by Quicksilver, but capable of surface amalgamation, so that inpassing through the pulp the amalgamated surfaces, coming in conof metal, will arrest them and carry them dowuinto the mercury at the bottom of the sluices.

C is an axle, similar to C, having its two extremities d d turning in the sides of the trough and kept in place by means ofthe rods and staples j. This axle C has a spiral, h, consisting of blades of wood, as represented in the drawings. lhe spirals on both cylinders may, however, be exactly alike; or, instead ot' being constructed as shown in the drawings, they may be made ot' interlaced wires or perforated plates, object required equally well.

I@ is a pulley attached to one end ofthe axle C, and F is a similar pulley attached to the same end of the axle O.

K is a band or'belt connecting the two pulleys F and F.

f is a crank by means ot' which the cylinders are rotated by hand-power. They may, however,be driven by any other suitable power appliedin anyobvious manner.

I have represented in the drawings two troughs or sluices. -It is obvious, however, that any number ot" them might be connected These troughs orv and accomplish the in a similarmannen '.frequired; or a single trough provided with a spiral agitator or Wheel will answer, in which case the pulp will be heaped up at one end of the trough, from which it will flow away by its own. gravity, and thus keep up a constant circulation. Two troughs united as in the drawings, however, are preferable to one. It is also obvious that ascrew or spiral might be stationary, and have a tight barrel or cylinder revolve around it, and thus produce a constant circulation of the pulp; or, finally, a paddle-wheel may be arranged with its axis at right angles to the sluiee or sluices, and by rotating give the pulp a similar motion in a circuit. To all these va' rions plans, however, I prefer that shown in the drawings. The spiral rows of blades, Ste., as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2, extend nearly to the bottom of the sluices, and so as to the dip into the Quicksilver which is placed there. The spirals on the two axles C and C being arranged in opposite directions and turned by the belt K in the same direction, it is obvious that the pulp in the sluices will be moved from one to the other in a circuit', as shown by the larrows in Fig. l.

Having thus described the construction and operation of my invention, what 1 claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

1. Giving the pulp, by any suitable mechanism, a circulating motion, so that it shall constantly return and pass over the same points until exhausted of its gold or silver, substantially as described.

2. The employment of an axle or axles, furnished with rods, blades, interlaced Wires, or perforated plates, so arranged as to form a spiral or a paddle wheel, and made to revolve in a suitable sluiceor sluices, so as to dip into the quicksilver at the bottom, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. The wheel (l, or its equivalent, with blades, rods, wire, &c., of copper or other metal not liable to be destroyed bythe action of mercury, but capable of surface amalgama tion, in combination with the sluiee S or sluices S S. substantially as described.

4. The combined slices S S', lined with copper or' other metal capable of surface amalgamation, arranged and operating substantially as herein set forth.

J AGOB J. STORER.

kWitnesses N. AMES, JOSEPH P. WooDnURY. 

